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Average car price in the Netherlands is downright shocking

December 30, 2025

From attainable possession to great expense

In 1970, the average purchase price of a new passenger car was 3,389 euros. Five years later it was just over 5,000 euros. The price increase continued steadily thereafter. In 1990, a new car cost an average of 14,240 euros. By the turn of the century, that mark had risen to nearly 20,000 euros. The real acceleration came in the last decade. In 2015, the average new car price is just over 31,000 euros. In 2020, the 38,000 euro mark is broken. This is followed by a series of rapid increases:

In just over fifty years, the average new home price has thus increased fifteenfold. Even adjusted for inflation, the increase remains substantial.

Segments move up structurally

Not only is the average price rising, but within the various market segments, cars are becoming increasingly expensive. The figures by segment show that no part of the market is being spared.

A-segment particularly pricey

In the A-segment, traditionally the domain of the cheapest city cars, a new car will cost an average of 22,723 euros in 2025. In 2020 it was 16,527 euros. So in five years, more than 6,000 euros will be added.

Sharp price increase in B-segment

The B-segment, for many years the heart of the Dutch market, shows a similar development. In 2020, the average price was 27,842 euros. In 2025, that rose to 34,664 euros. Thus, this segment is now approaching the price levels of the former C-segment.

Nearly 8,000 euros more in C-segment

The C-segment itself now sits structurally above 47,000 euros. In 2020, the average purchase price here was still just under 40,000 euros. Within five years, nearly 8,000 euros has been added to that.

D- and E-segment

Among the larger cars, the amounts are even substantially higher. The D-segment hovers around 61,000 euros in 2025, while the E-segment, with an average of 105,306 euros, is well above the ton. This means that large business cars and luxury models will be accessible to an increasingly smaller group.

Electrification and regulation as price drivers

The figures are not unrelated to broader developments. New cars have become more technically complex, more heavily equipped and increasingly electrified. Electric powertrains, battery technology, driver assistance systems and stricter safety requirements are structurally driving up costs. More importantly, car taxes in the Netherlands are skyrocketing. BPM in particular is crippling car sales.

At the same time, the range of truly simple cars has shrunk. Manufacturers have partially abandoned the A-segment, while entry-level models are increasingly richly equipped. What was once optional is now standard.

New car less and less obvious

The development of the average purchase price partly explains why more and more Dutch people continue to drive their cars for longer or divert to the used market. A new car has long since ceased to be a natural possession and has become a major financial decision. With an average new car price of over 50,000 euros in 2025, the Netherlands is at a historic tipping point. Not because cars are disappearing, but because the role of the new car is changing fundamentally: from widely accessible means of transportation to luxury product for a smaller group of buyers.